ASA conference Feb 2013

My presentation given at the Association of Subscription Agents annual conference, Feb 2013.

It was titled Understanding how researchers and practitioners use STM information, but the specific theme was understanding how to design information products and services for researchs and practitioners against a background of information abundance (aka information overload).

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So publishers can still lackin-depth understanding of:• how researchers use content• how it integrates with other information• the context in which content used• which articles were used, by whom, where and when?• or which parts of articles were used?

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It may be even worse ...Percentage of unique visitors that do not come from recognisedsources (known IP ranges, authenticated, or registered)Geoff Bilder (2009) Brave Adventures: New Publishing Models for the Now World, SSP, Baltimore

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Why was this?• cost & complexity of ﬁnding out• intermediation – libraries and agents• less value in print world anyway• but also, publishers may have thought they understood enough

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The wider information ecosystem is complexRIN (2009) Patterns of information use and exchange: case studies of researchers in the life sciences

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Deep log analysis (e.g. CIBER) offers one approach • what they actually do (online), not what they say or wish they do. E.g.: • very little time reading in the digital environment • Only 1–3 pages viewed & >50% of all visitors never come back • PDFs downloaded, but saved rather than read ofﬂineSource: Nicholas & Clark (2012) Reading in the digital environment. Learned Publishing doi: 10.1087/20120203

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Information abundance is a fact ... BUT What keeps us awake at night is notthat all this information will cause us tohave a mental breakdown but that weare not getting enough of theinformation that we need —David Weinberger [my emphasis]

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User segmentation • We ask editors: Do you know the proﬁle of speciﬁc users? Who are you targeting? The CHOs? The Male Social Glue inﬂuencers? We ask: who is more valuable? Which segment? • Our audience follows an 80-20 rule: 20% of the audience is of high value to us. 80% cost us more than the revenue they generate, for example, if they watch many long videos. Source: Outsell (2010) eMedia Organization Part III: Analytics-Wired Content www.outsellinc.com

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What sort of questions might we answer (or try to)?• What are the different barriers potential users face?• Who are the potential customers for possible new services?• How do different market segments value different features, and how might these be grouped? • What new products / services are missing from out portfolios?

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Why should we bother? • If your market is experiencing discontinuity • If you lack clear value propositions • If you rely too heavily on channel segmentation • If you sense that you face new customer demands and competition Harrington & Tjan 2008 Transforming Strategy One Customer at a Time, Harvard Business Review

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Some conclusions• Analytics capabilities are now a core requirement• Opportunities to borrow from B2C• As content commoditises, new ways of adding value become critical• Content / Data are likely to be distributed across the web ➜ open for new entrants to create new services